Lélia Wanick Salgado was born in Vitória, E.S., Brazil, and, early in her life, settled in Paris, France. Married, she is the mother of two sons, Juliano and Rodrigo, who has Down syndrome, she is the grandmother of a boy, Flavio.
LWS began her professional life at 17, as a primary school teacher and piano teacher in Brazil. In addition to her secondary education, she spent several years studying piano at the Conservatory, French at the Alliance Française and at the same time attended an artist’s studio to study painting.

In Paris, LWS studied Architecture at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts, and Urban Planning at the University of Paris VIII where she obtained a master’s degree. She has worked as an urban planner for several towns in France.
Her interest in photography began in the early 70’s and grew with the years. In 1983 she changed her field, working first with the Photo Revue, and then, in 1984, with Longue Vue, both photography magazines. In 1985-1986 LWS was the Director of the Magnum Gallery, where she organized about twenty photo exhibitions.

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Sebastião Salgado was born on February 8th, 1944 in Aimorés, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. He lives in Paris. Having studied economics, Salgado began his career as a professional photographer in 1973 in Paris, working with the photo agencies Sygma, Gamma, and Magnum Photos until 1994, when he and Lélia Wanick Salgado formed Amazonas images, an agency created exclusively for his work.
He has travelled in over 100 countries for his photographic projects. Most of these, besides appearing in numerous press publications, have also been presented in books such as Other Americas (1986), Sahel: l’homme en détresse (1986), Sahel: el fin del camino (1988), Workers (1993), Terra (1997), Migrations and Portraits (2000), and Africa (2007). Touring exhibitions of this work have been, and continue to be, presented throughout the world.

Sebastião Salgado has been awarded numerous major photographic prizes in recognition of his accomplishments. He is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in the United States.